Gita: Bhakti Yoga - Verses 17

Hari Aum

Prostrations to my Guru and Prostrations to all



Word meaning:
Yaha: who
Na: not
Hrishyathae: rejoices
Na: not
Dveshti: fret
Na: not
Shochathi: laments
Na: not
Kaankshati: desires
shuBha-ashuBha-parityaagi: renouncing good and evil
Bhakthimaan: full of devotion
Yaha: who
Saha: he
Mae: to Me
Priyaha: dear

He who neither rejoices, nor frets, nor laments, nor desires, renouncing good and evil, full of devotion, is dear to Me.

A real devotee is one who meditates constantly on meditates on ones own Self and those people always rejoices in the Bliss Absolute. Krishna describes the characteristics of such a man of realization.

He who neither rejoices:
A person will only rejoice when he acquires something which he desires. The man of realization sees nothing but the Self in all being and hence doesn’t have any desire of acquiring anything. Since the Perfect Man know that there is nothing new to be acquired, he doesn’t rejoice for anything

Nor frets:
When a desires for an object in the world and if he gets it he will rejoice in satisfaction, on the other hand if he doesn’t get that he will worry for getting it. But for the man of Perfection who sees only the Self in everything doesn’t desire for anything. Therefore whether he gets an object or don’t get an object, he always remains in the Bliss of the Self.

Nor laments:
Whenever there is a loss of a close friend or a relative, generally people will get affected by their loss and hence grieves for that, but a Man of Realization doesn’t grieve because there is nothing to lose as everything is only Self.

Nor desires:
The Man of Realization doesn’t desire for things that he don’t possess.

Renouncing good and evil:
To experience a good or evil, there should be an experiencer. A person who sees the world as real becomes the experiencer of the good and evil and hence enjoys the happiness or sorrow. A real devotee who sees only the Self in everything knows that he is not the experiencer but only the witness of whatever happens and thus he is devoid of good and evil.

Full of devotion:
Such a real devotee will have only one thought that of the Self and hence they are full of devotion.

Krishna says “such a person is dear to Me”.

Hari Aum

Thanks,
Rajesh